The University of Louisville swimming and diving team overpowered the Xavier Musketeers in their first meet of the season on Friday evening at Ralph Wright Natatorium. The women won 204-56, while the men won 205-64.
The Cardinals sported pink caps to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month as they dominated in the pool, winning every race of the night. Multiple Cardinals won more than one race, pacing the team to the season-opening victory. Junior Kelsi Worrell won the women’s 50-free, 100-free, and 200-IM while also playing a role on the winning 200-free relay team. Sophomore Andrea Cottrell won the women’s 100-breast and 200-breast, while fellow sophomore Abigail Houck took first in both the women’s 200-free and 500-free. Junior Devon Bibault won both the women’s 200-fly and 100-fly.
On the men’s side, senior Caryle Blondell won both the 50-free and 100-free. Sophomore Grigory Tarasevich finished first in both the 100-back and 200-back. Fellow sophomore Trevor Carroll finished first in both the 200-free and 500-free, while junior Nolan Tesone won both the 200-fly and 200-IM.
“It’s always good to get the first meet out of the way,” said head coach Arthur Albiero. “Training is fun, but we train to compete, so it’s an opportunity to get going. I think it’s great to see the freshmen in action, to see the work we put in since the last time we competed back in March. It’s fun to see where we are, and I like what I see. I think we’ve made some good progression overall, both side, men and women. We’ve still got ways to go, but that’s somewhat expected at this early stage.”
Coach Albiero also stressed the importance of getting meet experience, especially for those swimmers looking to compete at the next level.
“You see people shifting at a level that’s going to have an impact on the national scene, and that’s the way we want to play the game,” he said. “So we’re excited. We’re thankful to Xavier, they’re always very gracious to come and join us, and we certainly want to provide a great experience for them too. So it’s a win for everybody to just get going and get racing and diving. Even though Xavier doesn’t have diving, it was a chance for our divers to get some meet experience, and that’s invaluable.”
The women’s 200-medley relay team of Mackenzie Buss (26.65), Lucy Kramer (29.55), Hannah Magnuson (25.93), and Andrea Kneppers (24.02) combined for a time of 1:46.15 and the win, while the men’s 200-medley relay team of Grigory Tarasevich (22.81), Brennan Berger (26.25), David Boland (21.76), and Trevor Carroll (20.06) took first with a total time of 1:30.88.
In the women’s 1000-freestyle, Marah Pugh came in first with a time of 10:00.73, while teammates Abigail Chin and Lauren Herich rounded out the top three with times of 10:21.11 and 10:29.48, respectively. Bryan Dragonosky led the men’s 1000-freestyle field, as he finished in first with a time of 9:37.13
Abigail Houck took first in the women’s 200-free with a time of 1:51.01. Rachel Grooms finished in second place, touching in 1:51.66. Andrea Kneppers followed closely behind, finishing in third with a time of 1:52.15. On the men’s side, Trevor Carroll won the men’s 200-free with a time of 1:39.11. Teammate Matthias Lindenbauer finished in second with a time of 1:42.06, while Rudy Edelen finished in 1:42.06 to come in third place.
In the women’s 100-back, Erica Belcher won with a time of 55.87, while fellow Cardinals Kristina Steins and Mackenzie Buss rounded out the top three with times of 56.82 and 57.69, respectively. The men also swept the top three, with Grigory Tarasevich finishing in 48.98 to get the win. Aaron Greene finished in second place with a time of 50.03, while Aaron Young finished in third with a time of 51.71.
Andrea Cottrell won the women’s 100-breast by finishing in 1:03.87. Lucy Kramer finished in 1:04.27 to finish in second place, while Maggie Patterson touched at 1:05.17 to finish in third. Thomas Dahlia won the men’s 100-breast with a time of 55.84, while Addison Bray finished in second with a time of 56.78 and Carlos Claverie finished in third with a time of 56.92.
In the women’s 200-fly, Devon Bibault came in first with a time of 2:03.93. Marah Pugh recorded her second top three finish when she finished in second with a time of 2:04.43. Hannah Magnuson finished in third, touching at the 2:09.45 mark. In the men’s 200-fly, Nolan Tesone took first place with a time of 1:51.48. Josh Quallen came in second with a time of 1:52.31, while Joe Brown came in third with a time of 1:54.80.
Kelsi Worrell won the women’s 50-free with an NCAA B-cut time of 22.88. Tanja Kylliainen finished second, touching at 24.06, while Alex Sellers finished third with a time of 24.24. On the men’s side, Caryle Blondell paced the Cardinals with a first place finish and a time of 20.63.
In the women’s 100-free, Kelsi Worrell recorded her second win and NCAA B-cut time of the night, coming in first place with a time of 49.87. Rachel Grooms finished second, touching at 51.58, while Andrea Kneppers finished third with a time of 52.35. In the men’s 100-free, Caryle Blondell finished in first once again for his second win of the evening. He finished with a time of 45.21. Matthias Lindenbauer finished second with a time of 45.82, while Rudy Edelen touched third with a time of 46.50.
Tanja Kylliainen won the women’s 200-back with a time of 1:59.78, while Erica Belcher touched second with a time of 2:01.60. Hannah Magnuson rounded out the top three with a time of 2:06.28. Grigory Tarasevich won the men’s 200-back with a time of 1:46.98. Aaron Greene finished second with a time of 1:48.57, while Nolan Tesone touched third with a time of 1:49.06.
Andrea Cottrell won the women’s 200-breast to record her second first-place finish of the night. She finished with a time of 2:20.22. Lauren James finished second in 2:21.47, while Lucy Kramer finished third in 2:21.51. Carlos Claverie won the men’s 200-breast, finishing in 2:03.43. Thomas Dahlia finished second with a time of 2:04.59, while Todd Owen finished third with a time of 2:04.70.
In the women’s 500-free, Abigail Houck finished first with a time of 4:55.56. Following close behind her were teammates Marah Pugh who finished in 4:5.46, and Abigail Chin who finished in 5:02.53. Trevor Carroll won the men’s 500-free with a time of 4:33.43, while Jake Schultz finished second in 4:39.26. Bryan Draganosky finished in third with a time of 4:41.53.
In the women’s 200-IM, Kelsi Worrell recorded another first place finish with a time of 2:03.07. In the men’s 200-IM, Nolan Tesone led the field with a first place finish and a time of 1:50.65.
In the women’s 100-fly, Devon Bibault led the field, finishing in first place with a time of 56.35. On the men’s side, Pedro Coutinho finished with a time of 48.98 to win the race.
In the 200-free relay, final event of the night, the Louisville women’s team of Tanja Kylliainen, Alex Sellers, Rachel Grooms, and Kelsi Worrell combined for a time of 3:26.75 and the win. In the men’s 200-free relay, the team of Thomas Dahlia, Nick Hasemann, Rudy Edelen, and Caryle Blondell finished first with a total time of 3:03.21.
Xavier does not field a diving team, therefore the Cardinals competed as an exhibition. In the 3-meter event, Emily Stalmack finished on tip with a final score of 310.88. On the men’s side, Sean Piner finished the night with a total score of 346.50.
In the 1-meter event, Andrea Acquista was first with a final score of 272.17. Sean Piner finished with a score of 298.12 for the men.
The Cardinals, who host an alumni meet on Saturday, Oct. 11, return to competitive action on Oct. 17 and 18 when they travel to Dallas, Texas, to compete in the SMU Classic.
